In this series we’ll take a fresh look at resources and how they are used. We’ll go beyond natural resources like air and water to look at how efficiency in raw materials can boost the bottom line and help the environment. We’ll also examine the circular economy and design for reuse — with an eye toward honoring those resources we do have.

While changes at home can’t solve the many environmental crises we face today, they can sure help. Through this series, we’ll explore how initiatives like curbside compost pick-up, rebates on compost bins, and efficient appliances can help families reduce their impact without breaking the bank.

Despite decades -- centuries even -- of global efforts, slavery can still be found not just on the high seas, but around the world and throughout various supply chains. Through this series on forced labor, sponsored by C&A Foundation, we’ll explore many different types of bonded and forced labor and highlight industries where this practice is alive and well today.

In this series we examine how companies should respond to national controversy like police violence and the BLM movement to best support employees and how can companies work to improve equality by increasing diversity in their ranks directly.

Compost is often considered a panacea for the United States’ tremendous food waste problem. Indeed, composting is a much better option than putting spoiled food in a garbage can destined for a landfill.

A few years ago, many of us believed sustainability was a business shoo-in. Sexy, shiny and full of exotic new benefits (three bottom lines!) it would certainly attract hordes of consumers.

Fast forward to today. Yes, consumers are buying sustainably produced wares and services. But no, we haven’t seen a tidal wave of demand. In fact, consumers seem particularly fickle when it comes to buying green, as demonstrated by the recent SunChips packaging setback.

Why the hesitation? Although you can point to factors as simple as lagging product performance and price premiums, that doesn’t go far enough. There is a lack of connection in green marketing between planet and people.

How do you close that gap? For a start, skip the windmill.

Let’s talk about me.

Ask a roomful of people if they support climate-friendly technologies like recycling and solar power, and a fair majority will nod vigorously.

But don’t confuse agreement with passion. It’s easy to say you like sustainability. I have racks of research saying Americans like sustainability. Liking sustainability is akin to liking a facebook page – nothing more than an anemic thumbs-up.

Catherine Greener addressed this like / love disconnect at the recent GreenBiz State of Green Business Forum in San Francisco.

Greener, former VP at Saatchi S, understands what motivates people to passionate action.

She believes individuals act primarily on issues that impact their personal well-being, their family, and their immediate community.

Unless those needs are tended to, most individuals won’t commit to causes that promise to benefit the world at large.

Greener illustrated this disconnect with an example from an employee sustainability program in the automotive industry. In this particular case, none of the workers on the production floor were recycling their aluminum cans – recycling bins were contaminated with burger wraps, strapping and old newspapers. So the green team took a new tack, crafting a story that appealed directly to the employees’ personal priorities. It went like this:

aluminum cans are recycled into engine blocks, and

those engine blocks are produced more cheaply than blocks manufactured from mined aluminum, and

that lowers the price of cars, and

that means people buy cars, and

that means greater job security.

The result? Recycling bins overflowing with aluminum cans.

Empathize With Unbelievers

John Marshall Roberts has done groundbreaking work in the psychology of sustainability. Using a model based on Clare Graves’ research into worldviews, Roberts postulates that people see the world through fundamentally different eyes. Some of us, for example, feel most comfortable in a world of absolutes; others believe the world is a game in which they’re a player; still others see the world as a complex interconnected system.

Roberts asks us to imagine the result when an environmental message is crafted by a systems thinker – one who sees an interconnected world – but targeted at an absolutist audience. At best, the message will fall on deaf ears. At worst, it will make absolutist listeners absolutely hostile.

The solution, Roberts believes, is to use empathy when communicating. It starts with understanding and accepting your listener’s perspective, then crafting your message through the filter of their worldview. With empathy, unnecessary barriers can be eliminated, and unlikely supporters will often surprise you and rally to your cause.

How To Make Me Care

So how do you build a brand with green credentials that consumers actually care about?

First, a no brainer. You need to walk the talk. If you aren’t supporting your green brand with transparently green actions, you will almost certainly be found out. And it won’t be pretty.

Second, it’s vital to empathize with your audience, and craft a message that highlights a personal benefit in supporting your program or product. When they believe you’re giving them something of value, they will return the favor with greater support.

Finally, prepare for resistance. This is a new frontier, rife with misperceptions and negative bias. Even the best crafted message may hit a speed bump or two. This is normal – prepare for it.

Speaking of resistance, I wanted to finish with a few helpful tips on managing pushback from organizational transformation consultant Andy Satter.

1. Create a compelling WIIFM story. WIIFM stands for “What’s in it for me”.

2. Build a compelling business case that’s based on verifiable data. Connect your efforts to the bottom line. Better yet, connect it to the triple bottom line of profit, people, and planet. And the best case scenario – connect it to the bottom line of your listener.

3. Put a face on your efforts. For example, talking about melting polar ice caps is one thing, but showing a stranded polar bear is another. Again, the home run is putting a face from your target’s community in the communication. Instead of endangered polar bears, you might want to talk about the impact of local pollution on your community’s kids.

4. Actively solicit input from all key stakeholders who will be impacted by your efforts to go green. Meet with them early, frequently, and on their turf. Empathize with their perspective, and incorporate it into your message.

5. Separate the resistance you encounter from the individual. Don’t personalize it.

6. Break down the change into smaller sized chunks or bites.

7. Celebrate victories – large and small, and …

8. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.

9. Last, and potentially most important, make it engaging and memorable.

This article originally appeared in Huffington Post. Marc Stoiber is a creative director who futureproofs brands, as well as a prolific writer and speaker.

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2 responses

Seems we are a good case study for this phenomenon. Back2Tap has been working for several years to motivate people to give up bottled water. While people often agree that bottled water is a problem once we present the facts (anemic thumbs up), giving it up seems to be another matter completely. Perhaps a more compelling WIIFM message and a more local “face” would motivate more people to make the switch to tap water and stainless steel water bottles. Thank you for this very helpful article.

Thanks for the great feedback. If it’s any comfort, you are DEFINITELY not alone. It’s a time of upheaval, new rules, consumer confusion…the classic crisis / opportunity. I have a methodology I’m honing for helping brands futureproof themselves, and it has a number of factors (including ‘strong consumer insight’ and ‘sustainability story’) built into it. Believe it may be form the core of brands that are virtuous, and can talk about their virtue in a way that folks understand and value. Happy to chat about it anytime. Cheers